The Young Initiative invites foreign policy experts and guest speakers to campus to engage in discussions on international relations and the global political economy with students and faculty.

Upcoming Events

United Nations Week

With the William and Elizabeth Kahane United Nations Program, the Young Initiative supports the annual United Nations Week at Occidental College. We are passionate in maintaining students involvement and engagement in sustainable development. Our students choose topics that link Global Political Economy, Social Justice, and Sustainable Development.

UN Week 2020: Climate Change & Economic/Environmental Justice

Keynote speaker, Dr. Steven Were Omamo, Representative and Country Director for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Ethiopia, provided perspective and insights about the UN's work on Climate Change and Environmental Justice.

UN Week 2019: Gender, Sexuality and Collective Action

The keynote speaker, Ambassador Melanne Verveer spoke to students about gender in the Sustainable Development Goals.

UN Week 2018: The Power of Place

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a new partnership with Oxy to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

UN Week 2017: Through Refugees Eyes

Michel Gabaudan, President, Refugees International gave a talk on “The Global Refugee and Migration Crisis Under Trump: Where is the US? Where is Europe? What Can We Do About It?”

UN Week 2016: The UN and the US after Obama

Historian and foreign policy expert, Stephen Schlesinger reflected back on the history of the UN and predicted its future trajectory. Honorary Lloyd Axworthy, former Foreign Minister of Canada gave a talk titled: "Resetting the Narrative: Peace, Security, and the UN's Responsibility to Protect."

Young Events

Young speakers give students and faculty an opportunity to expand their understanding of global issues. The Young Initiative sponsors several speakers each academic year highlighting particular aspects of global affairs and the global political economy.  The Young Speakers program is devoted to highlighting the work and success of eminent international affairs experts and Oxy alumni in public service and academia.

 

SDG Panelists
Poverty and Inclusion in the Los Angeles SDGs

For nearly three years the Young Initiative has partnered with the City of Los Angeles to adopt the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals on a local level. Multiple cohorts of Oxy students have participitated in SDG task forces, and this past summer was no different. 17 Oxy students were split up across 6 different city projects to advance the SDGs.

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Prof. Kelly Zvobgo pictured
Truth Commissions and Transitional Justice
Kelebogile Zvobgo is incoming Assistant Professor of Government at William & Mary and Founder and Director of its International Justice Lab. Zvobgo’s research focuses on quasi-judicial bodies that have proliferated across the globe to fill the gaps left by domestic and international law and courts. Her work on such accountability mechanisms has extended to truth commissions and international...
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Pictured left to right: Ted Braun and Luis Moreno Ocampo
Managing National and International Violence: From Demonstrations To Transformations

Luis Moreno Ocampo is the former first Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and Ted Braun is a noted documentarian and the Joseph Campbell Endowed Chair of Cinematic Ethics at USC.

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Workshop session in Oxy's Cushman Board Room (Photo: USC Global Health)
Year in Review: Oxy Hosts Impactful, Interdisciplinary Human Rights Workshop with Top Global Scholars

The Young Initiative hosted and organized a series of incredibly enlightening workshops with an interdisciplinary cohort of leading human rights practitioners and scholars from three continents.

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Oxy UN Week Student Panel (photo Amirah Al-Sagr/The Occidental)
Year in Review: "The Occidental" Interviews UN Week Student Organizers

Perrin Shyne and Amirah Al-Sagr of The Occidental cover the student organizing efforts for UN Week 2020

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Joe Nye
Joseph Nye, "Morality and American Foreign Policy"

Joseph S. Nye Jr. has consistently been named one of the most influential American political scientists in history. Nye co-created the international relations concepts of neoliberalism and smart power and is the former dean of Harvard's prestigious Kennedy School of Government.

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Steven Were Omamo Keynote (Photo Kyler Parris)
Steven Were Omamo: Water, Markets, and Peace | UN Week Keynote

On Thursday, February 13th, the Oxy UN Week Keynote speaker, Dr. Steven Were Omamo, explained his work on food insecurity in Ethiophia in connection to environmental justice and climate change.

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Climate Change professor panel (Photo: Kyler Parris)
Climate Change for Future Presidents | UN Week Professor Panel

A multi-disciplinary panel of professors challenge students to to use their expertise to fight climate change at all levels.

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Alberto Saldamondo Indigenous Climate Activist
Alberto Saldamando: Indigenous Activism & Global Environmental Justice

On Wednesday February 12, 2020 Alberto Saldamando, a Lawyer Advocate at Indigenous Environmental Network, gave a presentation on “Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations.”

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The new Oxy Arts on York space
Climate Imaginaries: Built Environment, Art, & Climate Change

The built environment and climate change converge at Oxy Arts on York with Alison Hirsch and Aroussiak Gabrielian of USC Landscape Design as part of UN Week 2020.

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